A snowmobile is a popular winter recreational vehicle consisting of a rear motor driven track located under the snowmobile frame and steerable skies extending forward from the snowmobile frame. The motor driven track is an endless belt trained over a series of rollers. The motor driven track provides the main riding surface of the snowmobile and it includes cleats to assist in gripping the snow and/or ice covered ground surface.
Maintenance and repair work is necessary to keep a snowmobile in operating condition. In order to perform maintenance on the motor driven track, the snowmobile must be lifted to elevate the track from the ground surface. This is commonly accomplished by raising the rear of the snowmobile while keeping the forward skies on the ground surface. Another method requires lifting the entire snowmobile off the ground surface. Once the track has been elevated from the ground surface, repair work such as adjusting the belt tracking, repairing the motor or belt and the like can be accomplished. Such work and maintenance often requires running the now-elevated motor driven track. Snow, ice and even cleats from the snowmobile track can be thrown from the belt as the belt is operated in an elevated manner, and thus the worker and surroundings must be protected from the thrown objects to prevent injury and damage.
Various prior art stands are available, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,830,455 to Brightly. However, the stand of the Brightly patent is not adjustable. Since snowmobiles come in different sizes, a smaller snowmobile may be lifted too high, placing greater strain on the forward skis. This can create an unstable arrangement, especially when the track is run in the elevated position. Alternatively, a larger snowmobile may not be lifted sufficiently for maintenance or repair purposes. Thus, there is a need for an adjustable height stand to lift different size snowmobiles off the ground along with the additional ability to readily dismantle the device for storage purposes, such as found in the present invention.